This project is in response to the NIH program announcement on bereavement and aging. A prospective study of bereavement in elderly men and women will be conducted over four times of measurement (6 weeks from death of spouse, 6 months, 1 year and 2 years). Measures of sociological, psychological, and physical processes as well as religious commitment will be obtained using a structured interview and self-report measures. These will be collected from 250 older white widows and widowers, and non-widowed control groups. Smaller samples of black and Mexican American widows will also be studied to determine the influence of race and other demographic factors to physical, mental health, and mortality. Data will be analyzed in a multivariate framework using EFAP, COFAMM and LISREL procedures. Patterns of interrelationship among multidimensional sets of variables will be examined across time, and causal inferences regarding the impact of independent variables on dependent measures will be developed. Analyses are designed to test various aspects of a model which posits that adaptation or positive adjustment to a traumatic loss is a function of interrelationships among three constructs: "coping strength", support network and cumulative losses/stresses.